Wifebeater

“I don’t know any of you, and you might not be able to relate in anyway to me, but this here domestic abuse thingamajig is here for a reason. It is not right to beat down on someone who can’t defend themselves. It isn’t right to use violence on the person you swore to honor and cherish to death do you part. I didn’t honor or cherish my Dora. I left my kid parentless. Why? Because at the time I was too selfish to love anyone but myself, I loved my wife, but I loved her too late. Love is when you take a piece of yourself and share it with another. I learned that too late. Please, if I can teach you anything from what I have learned, give love a chance. Think of my Dora.” Lance broke down then, placing his head down on the podium and Nyla got up and helped him to his seat.

People came over to meet and to thank Lance for his speech. They told him how brave he was to get up there and say the words. They told him that his words hit home with them and they would think about what he said. He listened to their speeches of abuse. They made confessions of their individual flaws. Lance took heed of their stares as they looked at him and seemed to take in account what his speech now meant to them. Love was lost for Lance for now, but in essence he found he could help the love in others. It made him whole for the first time in a long time.

Nyla came over and thanked him and told him that he should do this with other groups. That his speech for the most powerful she had ever heard in the meetings. She smiled at him and gave him a big hug, something she didn’t normally do. Lance felt like he did right and thanked her back. She handed him a piece of paper for the times and places for other meetings if he was interested. He noticed she had scrawled her number on the back. He looked her and she smiled. Maybe he could love again.